The fire that never goes out

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Be light for the world: it's a phrase that we have all heard since our first year of school. It can be read in our agenda or heard in the different celebrations of the year, but what does it really mean and why is it represented by a burning bush? On March 05, 2021 we celebrated the day of Santa Francisca Romana, in which we remembered our history as a school and we commemorated those teachers who have given us the opportunity to share our journey by their side and guidance while at the same time learn from their knowledge.

To begin with, I want to explain why our school chose the burning bush as our institutional symbol. The background of the burning bush starts at the book of Exodus in the Bible, where Moses saw a bush engulfed in flames which wasn’t burning, and there he heard the voice of God. In the same way, the five sisters from the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes in Rochester, Minnesota came to Colombia to open our school because they were amazed by the significance of the burning bush and decided that it would be the perfect symbol for our community for various reasons.  First of all, they had in mind that the women that they wanted to educate should have a great passion and commitment for their surroundings. Also, as the burning bush, these women should have that light and fire in their hearts that should never go away. Until today we have been guided to be leaders in our society, to be able to learn from our past in order to change our future, to care about the different problems around us, and to be agents of social change.  

On March 05, 2021 we had different activities to celebrate our day. We started the day by watching a video that asked us different questions about how we would react to certain situations shown and how our Pacha’s identity relates to it. Later on, we had the mass in which our Reverend Rafael talked about the discernment to decide and act in our daily lives. We listened to some songs as “Amazing Grace” and heard the testimony of Laura Bohorquez, a former student who now lives in Chicago and helps as a volunteer with immigrant families. Finally, we had the ceremony in which the teachers received their “Zarza” for accomplishing a determined number of years in the school. Some of these teachers were Ángel Valderrama, Rocío del Pilar Cruz, Blanca Jaramillo, Skarlet Eger, Kattia Lozada, Martín Rodríguez, Edward Moore, and Julio Cesar Cerón. I believe that even though this year's experience was a little bit different due to COVID-19, we could enjoy and share each other's achievements in a very special way.